Science says these are the five worst sounds in the world

Don't like the squeak of chalk? Not the worst sound you'll ever hear. (Getty Images)

Fingernails on a chalkboard isn’t the worst sound you’ll ever hear. And a baby crying? Not even in the top five.

Scientists with Newcastle University say they’ve isolated the five worst sounds for the human ear, with the worst being the shrill sound of a knife scraping up against a glass bottle.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, relied on MRI scans of volunteers to determine the most excruciating sound for humans. Volunteers were subjected to a range of irritating sounds, then researchers studied their brain activity to determine what was the worst.

After a knife on a bottle came a fork on a glass, chalk on a chalkboard, a ruler on a bottle and finally fingernails on a chalkboard.

Listen to all five and see for yourself.

All of those sounds fall within the super-sensitive sound frequency range of 2,000 to 5,000 hz, according to researchers. That’s the same range as a human scream of terror, which could account for why it’s so odious to our ears.